ciladog

Forgive me for I have sinned. But I just couldn't help myself. Sometimes it just gets too, shall I say, intellectual on here.

With all these threads on quenches lately I thought I would share with the member the super duper, super hardening quench I discovered while trying to save some money on kitty litter.

I got to thinking that there must be something that I could do with cat urine and save on litter. So I built a small platform for my cat’s litter box and drilled a small hole in the bottom. I painted the bottom of the box to look like litter so the cats still scratch before they go. I collect the urine in a bottle under the box.

After about 2 years of collecting the fruits of my idea, I had enough to fill my slack tub. You can imagine how surprised I was when I was able to harden A36 to Rockwell 62 by quenching in of all things, cat urine.

There is one problem though. It smells worse than coal smoke but I get around that with a cover on the tub and turning on my exhaust fan when I quench.

It may even work with dog urine but I haven’t tried that as I no longer have a dog.

Depending on the number of cats you have you could be using super duper quench in the year 2014!

I'm not going be able to leave everything permanently set up anywhere. I'm sure the
homeowners association does not allow a blacksmith's shop and I'd like to be able
to lock it up securely anyway.

I need ideas for a mounting system that would allow me to firmly mount a post vice
and to be able to easily remove it and store it locked up in the backyard shed.

A post set into the ground and.....?


I'm not really thinking portable so much as removable....

Where do you live, in a prison where you are worried that the guards are going to shake you down at bedtime? I don't think you are talking about a blacksmith's shop but rather a nice little hobby that you have. To the dogs with the association. Does it say in your bylaws that you can't have a vise? This is still America (although barely these days).

I assume that the tanks you have ( B or smaller) you purchased so don't worry about other companies filling or exchanging them. Just keep the acetylene tank upright, valves closed, caps on if you have them and take to the road. You don't need any placards unless you want to drawer attention to your trip. Just do it and play dumb if a situation arises. This is one of those situations where less is better. Have a safe trip.

That forge is an atmospheric forge in that there is no blower supplying air. The air is drawn in by a fast moving stream of gas.

How well one of these forges function can be effected by lots of factors; back pressure in the forge box is something you need to pay attention to.

If the opening in the forge is too small for the amount of combustion gases to leave the forge it will create backpressure and blow out your burner.


The density of the air is also a factor although there is usually little you can do about it. An atmospheric forge that works well at sea level may not work so well in the mountains.

Check to see it you got any ITC in the burner bell. Anything that causes turbulence in the burner can effect it.

I did not purchase the anvil without the rebound. I bought the one with the rebound/action.

There are test to do for rebound (ball bearing test) so at least some feel it is important and worth checking, from what I know about it, it makes the work done on an anvil more efficent and lessens fatigue.

I was just a curious about why the loss of action or rebound happens, in hopes of avoiding it by doing some thing that could be avoided.

Pound Hound

thanks to those who gave constructive answers to the question

I guess you didn’t like my tongue -in-check answer. Well, I don’t think for one instant that there is anything you could have done to that anvil to remove the rebound if it was there to begin with. Others may want to pontificate on the matter but it is a block of Iron (or iron and steel) to be hammered on.

Draw a happy face on it and point it to magnetic north and see if the rebound comes back.

Give me a break. Just use the darn thing and stop with the anvil worship.

I can’t believe this thread. Beat the XXXXXX out of it and stop worrying about if your hammer bounces back and hits you in the face. If you want a bell, buy a bell.

OK, you want a reason that your anvil has lost its rebound? Well here it is. Your anvil is over 40 years old and at that age it loses 10% of its testosterone each year. So I suggest that you buy those testosterone replacement pills and grind them up and put them down the hardy hole a few times a week and maybe, just maybe, the anvil will start to rebound again.

I wouldn't waste A2 on a spring fuller. It's more suitable for punches, chisels, and dies (lots of cold work applications). You can make a spring fuller out of just about any steel including A36.

It seems silly to me so many members here are SOOO secretive about their personal info.

You know Bruce, it’s not paranoia it’s caution. The internet today is just one big database of information and it can be searched and it can be hacked to get or create a complete profile of someone. I’m sure you know of identity theft.

You post your real name and real birthdate on a forum like IFI. Then you post your email address for some reason or a phone number because you are selling something. Or maybe you post your complete address. Now someone has your name, address, your birthdate, and phone number.

In your case, didn’t you have an accident recently? I know the date from your post. Well for $9.95 I could search the DMV database (or have some internet company do it for me) and find out your plate number, your driver license number and maybe even you SSN.

That would be all that is needed to steal your identity. Do you see?

Well the reason I raised the question of carbon monoxide asphyxia is that after going into an AC environment and drinking fluids the symptoms didn’t subside.

If you are suffering from heat prostration or dehydration it will usually subside after getting into a cool place and hydrating within an hour or so.

Dehydration can be a serious condition. I was brought to the emergency room once with a condition called syncope dehydration which is as close to death as I ever want to be. An hour or so on an IV fixed the problem but who wants to go there.

After a day of forging in high heat and a few drinks with friends afterwards, I woke up the next morning feeling a bit strange. I could not focus but thought it would pass. I had my morning coffee and things just got worse. I eventually ended up in the hospital.

So if you think a few beers is a good thing on a hot day of forging think again. Your body uses water to metabolize alcohol and it dehydrates you in the process.

It sounds more like carbon monoxide asphyxia than heat exhaustion or dehydration to me. If you were working in such close proximity to the burner you were surely inhaling CO.

Sam, I can’t see any advantage to adding a DuPont linkage to an old Bull design. A DuPont linkage works on mechanical hammers and the Bull is not a mechanical hammer.

The DuPont linkage was designed to regulate the inertial travel and force of the tup where the stroke is always the same and the speed affects the inertia. So how does that work on an old style Bull where the stroke is what is regulated and speed is not?

I have an anvil whose edges are still pretty square (there really is no radius on them). I am a total newbie to blacksmithing, so I'm somewhat concerned about dinging/chipping these edges ... but I'm also concerned about making permanent changes to the anvil by grinding.

I see in Jack Andrews's book "New Edge of the Anvil" that he recommends:

"From the shoulder to the mid point develop the edge to 3/8" radius. Blend this radius into 1/4" radius from the mid point to the heel. The edge of the heel can be either sharp or rounded."'

Questions:

1. Is this the generally accepted "thing to do" with a new anvil?

2. Should both the "inner edge" (closer to the blacksmith) and "outer edge" (farther away) be eased this way?

3. This is a double-bick German-type anvil. Am I correct to assume that there should be no radius ground on the edges of the "square bick" on the right-hand side ... in other words, should I leave that part alone?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Putting a radius on your anvil has nothing to do with chipping the edges.

You radius the edges so that when you do half blows either near or far side you don’t create a cold shut in your work. A gradual radius of from 3/8 to 1/8 will be all you need. You should leave some of the near and far sides square. The length of this radius will depend on the type of work that you do.

I would leave the flat bick square until you find a need to put a radius on it.

Mark, the file blades a hard to find. I don't know of anyone still selling them. Here is one on Ebay that I found.

http://www.ebay.com/...d=p5197.c0.m619

I did a demo making a billet from saw chain at Peter Valley a few months ago and gave that billet to the infamous Sam Salvati to forge a knife from. I picked it up today while Sam was teaching his class on knife forging.
According to Sam, this was not etched. The pattern is a result of polishing and heat treating.
It is a beautiful execution and is razor sharp.
Thank you Sam.

Very inspiring!

Go for it. It is easier then you think. After you flux, heat until you start to see sparks then forge with a very light hand until it all sticks together.

Do you work the billet down from the end you have the bar welded to or from the tip back to the bar, or doesn't it really matter so long as you work one way only?

I work to the bar, not from the bar. Check out the pics in post #26. I do that because sometimes if you work from the bar the chain starts to break apart at the other end.

I can tell you this stuff get's HARD, more then enough for a knife which, what a coincidence, I just finished up last night from that piece you gave me Craig :D

I can't wait Sam. I'll see you Sunday.

Ciladog,

Maybe I missed this in one of the beginning posts, but how do you prevent the scale build up between the pieces you've tacked together? Do you just wire brush the billet real good between fluxing, or hasn't this been a real issue? I was just curious if this has any affect on the billet welding together properly.

Thanks,
Jeff

Scale is really not an issue. It’s kind of like refining wrought iron from a bloom. All the junk just gets squeezed out if you forge at a hot enough temp. I do flux with borax each time I take a heat and that liquefies the scale so it squeezes out. But you have to work from one end to another without trapping the impurities so you don't get inclusions.

You need a very light hand on the hammer when you start. All you want to do is stick the chain together. It is surprising how little force it takes. As all the spaces close, you can be more aggressive.

speltered is also a past tense verb

I never know that but I can't find it. Spelter is a synonym for zinc but add the "ed" and I can't fine it>

have any of you ever speltered?

I thought speltered was a noun. Maybe adjitive,

Just jumping in to say how epic this thread is. Thanks for sharing.

I do thank you for your comment.

passed participle?

I guess some of you guys didn't pay attention in english class. Verb tense, do you remember that subject?

A past participle indicates past or completed action or time. It is often called the 'ed' form as it is formed by adding d or ed, to the base form of regular verbs, however it is also formed in various other ways for irregular verbs.
It can be used to form a verb phrase as part of the present perfect tense.
For example:-
I have learnt English. (Learnt is part of the verb phrase 'have learnt')
It can be used to form the passive voice.
For example:-
Her hair was well brushed.
It can also be used as an adjective.
For example:-
As an adjective: He had a broken arm. (Broken is used here as an adjective.)

I gota du what I gota du but if I had done what I gota du I wouldn't have to do what I gota du. :lol:

I have been assuming the Bull throttle valve for the air is a ball valve. However, I'd like to know for sure. Can some one answer this for me. Thanks in advance.

Yep, just a ball valve.

spelt 2 (splt)
v.
A past tense and a past participle of spell1.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved

Very old British usage past tense of spell. However, past participle still in modern use. If I had spelt the word correctly I would have gotten a passing grade. :)